Razor blade dispenser



Oct. 29, 1963 G. T. RANDOL 3,108,683

RAZOR BLADE DISPENSER Original Filed Jan. 15,. 1957 Inventor United States Patent 3,lll3,683 RAZUR BLADE DEFENSE? Glenn f. Randal, 2nd Ave. and Pauli St, Box 275, Mountain Lake Park, Md.

Griginal application Jan. 15, 11957, Ser. No. 634,197, new Patent No. 2,945,297, dated duly 19, 1966. Divided and this application luly 11, wet), Ser. No. 42,tl3*9 Qlaims. (Cl. 206-46) This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 634,197, filed January 15, 1957, now issued to Patent No. 2,945,297, dated July 19, 1960.

The present invention relates to dispensers, and more particularly to a novel safety razor blade dispenser that is manually operative to fully eject blades individually therefrom into a razor head upon engagement of a portion of the blade edge while fully contained within said dispenser, with an ejecting element disposed on the razor, said ejecting element being operative to effect ejection of the engaged blade from the dispenser in response to relative manual displacement of the razor head and dispenser during co-planar operating relationship thereof.

More specifically, the present invention seeks to provide for a safety razor having a full exposahle blade platform with upstanding blade stops disposed thereon, wherein said stops have the additional novel function of cooperating with the extremities of the blade cutting edge contained in an operably associatable blade loading device or dispenser whereby the blades are individually ejected automatically from the dispenser onto the platform as a function of relative manual separation of the dispenser with respect to the platform or vice versa as will appear.

An object related to the object next above, is to provide a separate razor and a separate blade magazine or loading device which have cooperating parts for positioning the device on the blade platform upon fully opening the razor head, and which enable a blade to be easily and smoothly fed into the razor from the magazine and at the same time assures that the effective cutting edge portion of the blade never comes into contactwit'h the blade retaining stops on the platform that serve also as the blade ejecting elements. Thus, eliminating any possibility of the shaving portion of the cutting edge coming in contact with anything until the blade edges are impinged between the retaining stops in shaving position.

The razor to carry out the object next above of the invention, cooperates with the positioning of the blade magazine while fully spread for the reception of the blade therefrom, and also functions when the magazine is withdrawn, by moving the blade automatically from its fully contained disposition within the magazine into a position for clamping in shaving position.

A further more specific object of the invention provides ejecting means on the razor blade platform at the extremities of the razor cutting components for engaging complemental portions of the cutting edge, or optionally, said means is operatively disposed in alignment on opposite transverse (end) portions of the platform to cooperate with a blade endwise displaceable from a modified magazine whereby relative manual movement of the razor head and magazine longitudinally parallel to one another in either direction is effective to feed a blade from the magazine onto the blade platform for subsequent positioning in shaving position.

The present blade dispenser facilities blade insertion 2 While minimizing the risk of personal injury attendant thereto, and requires no manually forced positioning thereof on the blade platform to establish the magazine ifn operating position to discharge a blade onto said platorm.

Other important objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevation of a safety razor head in fully open position, and showing a blade dispenser embodying the present invention operatively associated therewith, in the process of depositing a blade in said razor head;

FlGURE 2 is a front elevation of the blade loading magazine showing the cutting edge of the bottom blade exposed to the blade outlet;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2 showing the blades in the magazine and the opening through which the blades individually pass successively when being loaded in the razor;

FlGURE 4 is a bottom view of the magazine taken along the line 4-4; of FIGURE 2 and showing details of the end transverse channels for receiving the upstanding blade stops on the razor platform and which engage the extremities of the cutting edge to feed a blade from the magazine onto the platform;

FIGURE 5 illustrates the bottom side of a modified blade loading magazine having a medially disposed longitudinal slot coextensive therewith to expose the ends of the displaceable blade for engagement by aligned ejecting elements upstanding on the ends of said platform whereby a blade-changing operation may be effected in either direction of moving the magazine and razor head relatively with respect to each other; and

FIGURE 6 is an end elevation of the modified magazine depicted in FIGURE 5 as viewed from the line 6-6 thereof to illustrate one of the end openings through which the blades are fed individually from the magazine responsive to longitudinal relative movement of the magazine and razor head under manual actuation thereof. In the several views identical parts or elements are designated by like reference characters, with corresponding parts or elements in the modified embodiment distinguished, however, by the addition of the letter a to each.

Referring to the drawing, the presently preferred embodiment of the invention is the blade loading magazine generally designated M operatively associated with a safety razor designated as a whole R as shown in FIGURE 1 with the head therwf fully open for a blade-change, said razor head comprising a pair of relatively movable interfitting clamping members designated 15 and 16 respectively. The member 15 being provided with a top clamping plate 22 and the member 16 having a cooperating blade support member or platform 39, the latter being provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced upstanding blade stops which also serve in a novel manner as blade ejecting elements 34 disposed superjacently with respect to the cutting edge guard member 1'7. The clamping plate and platform are biased toward each other into blade clamping position by a normally preloaded leaf spring shown at S, and a rearwardly extending finger projection or tab 23 medially disposed with respect to a pair of depending blade butt edge stops 24 formed as a continuation of the rear end of said member, enables manual actuation of the clamping member to release a blade for removal from the razor head when the clamping plate has been moved against the bias of spring S to the position of FIGURE 1 wherein the razor head is conditioned to operatively receive the novel blade dispenser constitut ing the present invention to deposit a blade into said razor head as a function of manually separating the blade magazine from the blade platform. The razor being adapted to use a single-edged blade designated "19 having oppositely disposed cutting and butt edges 2t 21 respectively.

The razor blade dispenser or magazine constituting the present invention is generally designated M and illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, and 4. This blade magazine, as is understood, is adaptable to hold a supply or stack of blades of the single-edged type shown at 19. The magazine comprises a casing 55 preferably formed of thin sheet aluminum or molded plastic material, and having a top, bottom, rear and front wall of rectangular configuration with the opposite ends closed as by a plate of square section conformation. The upper (top) wall 57 has a medial arcuate recess 58 merging with the inner surface of this wall on a transverse line equidistant from each end. The closure plates 59 at each end of the casing 55 are each provided with a pair of cars 60 positioned medially on opposite edges thereof. These ears are adapted to be pressed into suitable aligned openings 61 adjacent the ends of the casing to thus confine the blades within the casing as is understood. A normally preloaded leaf spring 62 of substantially bracketshape configuration is formed with a medial hump 63 which engages the recess 58 and the free ends thereof terminate in oppositely disposed legs 64, 65, the latter being adapted to engage the last or top blade within the magazine and continuously urges the pack of blades toward the bottom of the magazine in registry with a slot 66 forming a blade outlet or discharge opening through the rear wall 67 in alignment with the bottom blade. A transverse channel 68 intersecting the termini of slot 65, is provided at each end of the casing through the bottom wall 69 and front wall 7% immediately adjacent the inner side of the end plates 59. These cross channels receive the coacting ejecting elements 3- to enable the confronting faces of said elements to engage the extremities of the blade cutting edge 26 with the outer planar surface of the bottom wall of the magazine in intimate contact with the upper confronting side of the blade platform as demonstrated in FIGURE 1. This coaction between the elements and channels also serves to guide the relative sliding movement of the platform and magazine when feeding a blade from the magazine through the outlet 66 onto the platform as a function of manually separating them. It is thus seen that the elements coast with the extremities of the blade cutting edge to eject a blade from the magazine M responsive to relative sliding movement of the razor head R and magazine, therefore, the razor of the present invention may be termed the injector-type. After a blade has been deposited on the blade platform in the manner described, closure of the clamping member 22. impinges the inserted blade within the closed razor head in shaving position wherein the extremities of the blade cutting edge are engaged with said ejecting elements 34 to serve the additional function of blade stops in a conventional manner.

Each of the lateral edges of the blade platform 3% are provided with an upstanding blade ejecting element shown at 52 which cooperates with the ends of the blade displaceable from a modified leading magazine, said blade being fed from the magazine endwise from either end thereof responsive to relative endwise sliding movement in either direction of the razor head R and magazine. This novel blade-changing operation will be more fully explained in connection with a detailed description of the modified dispenser as follows:

The modified blade-changing magazine is generally designated M and shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. This magazine is substantially the same construction as magazine M with the exception that the cross channels 68 and longitudinal blade outlet 66 are eliminated. The bottom wall of this modified casing '76 is formed with a centrally disposed channel 77 through the wall extending lengthwise thereof and merging at each end with blade slots or outlets '78 provided in the end plates 79 and 80, the latter slots registering with medial end portions of the bottom wall within the magazine. With the clamping member 22 fully open as shown in FIGURE 1 and the magazine M positioned on the platform 3% in readiness to deposit a blade thereon, the ejecting elements are aligned with the channel 77 in registry with the opposite ends of the bottom blade exposed through the outlets 78, and the stops 34 are spaced slightly forward of the casing 76. The operator may now grasp the razor handle, for example, in his right hand and the ends of the magazine bet-ween the thumb and forefinger of his left hand to manually separate the magazine and razor head by relatively sliding the magazine and platform in either direction while in contact with each other to forcibly feed a blade from the magazine onto the platform through either of the outlets 7 8.

Operation Although the manner in which my invention achieves its objectives should be manifest from the foregoing description augmented by an inspection of the drawing, a brief restatement is deemed apropos, as follows:

What will be considered a blade-changing cycle, will now be described in connection with the razor illustrated in FIGURE 1. Assuming the razor head is empty, such a cycle comprises the steps of first fully opening the razor head by applying manual pressure on the thumb tab 23 while grasping the handle of the razor, for example, in the right hand, to move the clamping plate 22 to the position shown in FIGURE 1 and then mounting the blade dispensing magazine M on the razor platform 3% in the position demonstrated in FIGURE 1. With the magazine held between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, the magazine may be moved relatively to the platform or vice versa. This relative movement brings about a separation of the magazine and platform and due to the engagement of the stops 34 with the blade cutting edge extremities forcibly causes the bottom blade within the magazine to be ejected through the blade outlet 66 onto the platform; whereupon, release of manual pressure on the finger tab 23 enables the spring S to urge the platform 30 and clamping plate into their normal blade clamping relation wherein the extremities of the cutting edge of the blade abut the stops 34 and the butt edge engages the rear stops 24. During this blade-clamping operation, the blade slides rearwardly by action of the stop elements 34 in engagement with the extremities of the cutting edge 2% to place the butt edge 21 into contact with the depending stops 24, to thus impinge the opposite edges of the blade between the stops 24, 34 to condition the razor for a shaving operation.

Thus, it should be manifest that my invention discloses an improved blade dispensing magazine that is extremely simple in design, easy to manipulate, and free of risk as to personal injury during blade-changing as with this novel blade magazine the hands never come in contact with the blades whether being removed from the open razor as by gravity after being released in the manner above-described, or being inserted into the razor head by manipulation of the magazine M in the manner above-described.

Use of the modified blade magazine M illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6, differs only in the direction of movement of the magazine with respect to the platform. A

selected endwise relative movement between the magazine and platform is effected to forcibly eject a blade from the corresponding end outlets 78, and this relative movement may be in either direction since an outlet for the blade is provided at each end of the magazine. Otherwise, the blade-clamping operation is similar to that described in connection with the first embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-4 inclusive.

The various cooperating elements of the invention are combined to provide a low cost and simplified blade dispenser construction for loading blades successively, either endwise or crosswise of the razor head without dulling the cutting edge portion thereof, as the dispenser mechanism is designed to feed the blade with its cutting edge clear of any clamping means such as the stops 34 until it is in position to be clamped in shaving position automatically, and then only the corners of the cutting edge are in engagement with the stops 34.

It should be noted that the blade ejecting elements 52 serve in the first embodiment of the invention to maintain the magazine M square with the platform during relative movement of the magazine and platform to deposit a blade onto the platform, while the front stops 34 serve in the modified form of the invention to maintain the magazine M parallelly with the platform in cooperation with the ejecting elements 52 as they pass through the longitudinal slot 77 in engagement with one or the othe of the blade ends depending on the direction of relative movement, to force the blade onto the razor platform.

While I have shown my novel razor blade dispenser associated with a safety razor of patentable construction and operation disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 634,197, filed January 15, 1957, it is obvious that the blade dispenser herein disclosed may be used to effect blade-changes in any conventional safety razor using single-edged blades and having a relatively movable blade platform and cooperating clamping plate provided with blade retaining stops, and the invention contemplates this broader commercial application thereof.

The preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described. It is to be understood, however, that the invention contemplates any and all modifications thereof that may fall within the purview of the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A safety razor blade dispensing magazine adapted to contain a plurality of new blades for use with a razor having a fully exposable planar blade supporting platform provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced upstanding stops engageable by correspondingly spaced portions of the blade cutting edge, the combination of: a hollow magazine of rectangular cross-sectional configuration and having one wall slidably engageable with the confronting surface of the blade platform when the latter and the magazine are relatively moved, a pair of rectangular plates closing the ends respectively of said magazine, a longitudinal blade outlet through another of the walls of the magazine, said one wall merging at substantially right angles with the other wall subjacently to the blade outlet, a pair of longitudinally spaced transverse channels is provided between the ends of the one wall and end closure plates respectively and which intersect said blade outlet, said channels being of such depth as to align the butt edge of the bottom blade displacea'ble from the magazine with the blade outlet and expose the extremities of the cutting edge thereof to engage the cutting edge stops and thereby forcibly eject a blade through said outlet onto the blade platform in response to manual transverse sliding movement of the magazine relative to said blade platform while the razor is fully open and the bottom wall disposed in co-planar relationship to the confronting surface on the blade platform; and a normally preloaded spring disposed between the top blade and top wall of the magazine for urging the blades suc- 6 cessively into said displaceable position with respect to said "blade outlet.

2. A safety razor dispensing magazine adapted to contain a plurality of new blades for use in a razor equipped with a fully exposab-le blade supporting platform provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced cutting edge stops for a blade characterized by the latter edge opposite a blunt edge, the combination of; a hollow blade magazine of rectangular cross-sectional configuration and comprising a top, bottom, front, and rear wall and a pair of longitudinally spaced end closure walls, said bottom wall being adapted to slide on the confronting surface on the blade platform when the razor is open during relative movement of the magazine with respect to the platform to eject a blade; a pair of blade outlets provided through said end walls respectively at opposite ends of the bottom wall; a longitudinal channel through the cenral portion of the bottom wall interconnecting said blade outlets which are disposed in registry with the opposite ends respectively of the bottom blade ejcctable from the magazine through said outlets; a blade ejecting element provided on one of the ends of the blade platform for passage through the adjacent outlet, interconnecting channel and other outlet in that order, while engaging the adjacent end of the blade and thereby forcibly ejects the same from the magazine through the other blade outlet onto the blade platform with the extremities of the cutting edge spaced from the aforesaid longitudinal stops, for subsequent transverse movement to bring said extremities into abutment with said last-named stops to stabilize the blade, in response to manual endwise movement of the magazine toward said element, relative to said blade platform While the latter is maintained in sliding contact with the bottom wall of said magazine; and a normally preloaded spring reacting between the top wall and top blade of the magazine to urge the blades into successive ejectable position with respect to said blade outlets;

'3. A safety razor blade dispensing magazine constructed in accordance with claim 2 including another blade ejecting element mounted on the other end of the blade platform in longitudinal alignment with said firstnamed ejecting element, whereby the other end of the blade is engageable by the other ejecting element to forcibly eject the blade from the magazine through said adjacent outlet onto the blade platform in response to endwise movement of the magazine toward said other eject ing element, relative to said blade platform while the latter is maintained in sliding contact with the bottom wall of said magazine.

4. The combination of a safety razor having a fully exposable blade support platform equipped with a pair of longitudinally spaced stops to effect the transverse insertion of a single-edged blade characterized by a cutting edge opposite a blunt edge, with a blade dispensing magazine adapted to contain a plurality of new blades continuously spring-urged toward a blade outlet passage substantially coextensive with the length thereof, the cutting edge of each blade cooperating with said stops to project them successively through said outlet passage onto said blade platform in response to manual sidewise movement of the magazine toward said stops, relative to said blade platform while disposed in co-planar relationship with each other.

5. The combination of a safety razor having a fully exposable blade support platform when open, and which is equipped with a pair of longitudinally spaced stops and a projection defining one end of said platform to effect endwise insertion of a single-edged blade characterized by a cutting edge opposite a blunt edge, with an elongated rectangular blade dispensing magazine adapted to contain a plurality of new blades continuously springurged toward a blade outlet passage substantially coextensive with the Width of one end of one side of said magazine; a longitudinal channel coextensive with the a u one side of said magazine and through which said proiecprojection While said one side of the magazine and said tion passes to project a blade from said magazine onto blade platform are in co-planar relationship.

said blade platform, one end of each of said blades being References C'ted in the file of this atent engageable by said pro ection to successively pro ect them R p through said outlet passage onto said blade platform for 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS subsequent transverse movement under razor-closing 210- 2,159,933 Muros May 23, 1939 tuation to bring the extremities of the cutting edge into 2,287,487 Roberts June 23, 1942 abutment with said pair of stops respectively to stabilize 2,300,596 Roberts Nov. 3, 1942 the blade, in response to manual endwise movement of 2,399,780 Muros Feb. 2, 1943 the magazine relative to said blade platform toward said 10 2,564,712 Muros Aug. 21, 1951 

1. SAFETY RAZOR BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A PLURALITY OF NEW BLADES FOR USE WITH A RAZOR HAVING A FULLY EXPOSABLE PLANAR BLADE SUPPORTING PLATFORM PROVIDED WITH A PAIR OF LONGITUDINAL SPACED UPSTANDING STOP ENGAGEABLE BY CORRESPONDINGLY SPACED PORTIONS OF THE BLADE CUTTING EDGE, THE COMBINATION OF: A HOLLOW MAGAZINE OF RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTIONAL CONFIGURATION AND HAVING ONE WALL SLIDABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH THE CONFRONTING SURFACE OF THE BLADE PLATFORM WHEN THE LATTER AND THE MAGAZINE ARE RELATIVELY MOVED, A PAIR OF RECTANGULAR PLATES CLOSING THE ENDS RESPECTIVELY OF SAID MAGAZINE, A LONGITUDINAL BLADE OUTLET THROUGH ANOTHER OF THE WALLS OF THE MAGAZINE, SAID ONE WALL MERGING AT SUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES WITH THE OTHER WALL SUBJACENTLY TO THE BLADE OUTLET, A PAIR OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED TRANSVERSE CHANNELS IS PROVIDED BETWEEN THE ENDS OF THE ONE WALL AND END CLOSED PLATES RESPECTIVELY AND WHICH INTERSECT SAID BLADE OUTLET, SAID CHANNELS BEING OF SUCH DEPTH AS TO ALIGN THE BUTT EDGE OF THE BOTTOM BLADE DISPLACEABLE FROM THE MAGAZINE WITH THE BLADE OUTLET AND EXPOSE THE EXTREMITIES OF THE CUTTING EDGE THEREOF TO ENGAGE THE CUTTING EDGE STOPS AND THEREBY FORCIBLY EJECT A BLADE THROUGH SAID OUTLET ONTO THE BLADE PLATFORM IN RESPONSE TO MANUAL TRANSVERSE SLIDING MOVEMENT OF THE MAGAZINE RELATIVE TO SAID BLADE PLATFORM WHILE THE RAZOR IS FULLY OPEN AND THE BOTTOM WALL DISPOSED IN CO-PLANAR RELATIONSHIP TO THE CONFRONTING SURFACE ON THE BLADE PLATFORM; AND A NORMALLY PRELOADED SPRING DISPOSED BETWEEN THE TOP BLADE AND TOP WALL OF THE MAGAZINE FOR URGING THE BLADES SUCCESSIVELY ONTO SAID DISPLACEABLE POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID BLADE OUTLET. 